Hawaii is known as this beautiful state with several beaches. This place is just pure beauty! Unfortunately, Honululu, Hawaii experienced some terrifying news on Saturday, January 13th. Everyone in the capital received an alert through their smartphones saying that there would be a ballistic missile heading their way. They were told they needed to take shelter immediately. From people that were driving on the roads and stopping their cars, completely abandoning them, to people fleeing and having their children go in manholes, the whole town was petrified and they all scrambled. People were doing anything they could possibly do to keep them and their families safe.
Everyone was in fear for the worst. As people were still scrambling for shelter, forty minutes after they received the first alert, another alert was sent to their phones. It mentioned that the previous alert was a false alarm and there was no ballistic missile heading their way. An incident had occurred. Someone had hit the incorrect button during a shift-change drill. He had clicked the wrong button on the computer. It was a human error. Hawaii government officials sent out several apologies to everyone they caused stress to. Some people were enraged about it and some people remained calm and were just glad that it wasn’t real. The governor apologized for all the terror that was caused. He said that they are going to work on improving their emergency procedures. The guy who made the accidental mistake was reassigned to a new position, in order to prevent this from hopefully, never happening again.
This situation was unforgettable and caused fear in everyone who lived there. Hawaii officials will ensure that this does not happen again in the future. They mentioned that they will update their management systems, technology, and staffing. Although they say this, actions speak louder than words. When asked, “what could they do to prevent this from happening again?”, Freshman, Joshua Clark, responded, “don’t have the button be selected from a drop-down menu. They should have multiple people that all have to confirm the alarm before sending it out to everyone.” Another student, Sophomore, Noah De La Cruz, stated “the button should be placed in a case on the wall, rather than have it be on a computer. It is also important to update the technology and get it back up and running.” People all have different ideas on how to prevent a situation like this from happening again. Hopefully, everything will begin to run smoothly again soon in this beautiful state, Hawaii.
Wading for Progress! The governor of Hawaii, David Ige, apologizes for the false warning. He said they will find ways to prevent this from happening again. Ige said that this situation was “unfortunate and regrettable.” Hopefully, they will update their technology and get their act together.
Photo Credit: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/01/14/hawaii-missile-alert-how-one-employee-pushed-the-wrong-button-and-caused-a-wave-of-panic/?utm_term=.e86ecdb4890d